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Brush
Wellman Inc. Introduces
Alloy
390™
for High Power Applications |
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CLEVELAND
– September 22, 2003 -- With the
recent launch of its proprietary
Alloy 390™, Brush Wellman Inc.
has broken through the performance barrier
that has long required materials users
to select between strength and conductivity.
Utilizing
Lean Six Sigma methodology, Brush Wellman
has made process breakthroughs that
have enabled it to produce an alloy
that has both high strength (nominal
140 ksi, 0.2% yield strength) and high
conductivity (44% IACS minimum). Alloy
390™ combines the best attributes
of two separate families of commercial
copper beryllium alloys – the
strength of the “high strength”
alloy C17200 with the conductivity of
“high conductivity” alloys
such as C17410 and C17510. In addition,
Alloy 390™ has excellent stress
relaxation resistance at elevated temperatures.
The mill hardened alloy is available
in strip form ranging from 0.002 to
0.010 inch thick.
| Key
Attributes |
| Electrical
Conductivity (Minimum % IACS) |
44 |
| Nominal
Yield Strength (ksi) |
140 |
| Formability
Transverse/Longitudinal (90 Bend)*
|
2.0/2.0 |
| Fatigue
Strength- 108 Cycles, R = -1 (ksi)
|
48 |
| Resilience
Ratio (Yield Strength : Elastic
Modulus) |
7.37
x 10-3 |
Stress
Relaxation at 150 C for 1000 hr
(% S.R.),
Initial stress = 75% of 0.2% Offset
Yield Strength |
83 |
*Formability
for thickness in the range of 0.002"
to 0.004"
Users
of the new copper-nickel-beryllium alloy,
including those in the computer burn
in and test socket (BiTS) and production
sockets as well as other high power
consumer and communication equipment
markets, are already seeing benefits.
Richard J. Hipple, President, Brush
Wellman Alloy Products, reported, “Alloy
390™ is providing a unique combination
of properties that allows users to create
small form factor electrical contacts
in some extremely demanding applications.”
“This has everything to do with
removing hurdles for our customers,”
Hipple said, noting that with the push
for further miniaturization, new generations
of densely packaged, high-speed integrated
circuit devices are increasing power
requirements dramatically. This, in
turn, drives the need for lower thermal
resistance while maintaining the desired
mechanical performance characteristics.
In
the BiTS and production socket applications,
Alloy 390™ is now being used to
make electrical-mechanical contact springs
(land grid array contacts) which provides
the interconnection between the active
device and the printed circuit board.
Jim
L. Johnson, Asia Marketing and Technical
Service Director for Brush Wellman added
that the faster IC packages require
less distance or “pitch”
between contacts. As a result, new materials
performance challenges are presented.
“Alloy
390™ allows for the large deflection
range required by these high pin count
devices, and by way of superior electrical
and thermal conductivity, eliminates
the resistive heating problems that
hindered the effectiveness of other
alloy solutions,” he explained.
Johnson
continued, “Device packages need
to be tested to sort out those that
are defective prior to further production.
These tests require repeated actuation
(package insertions and removals) over
an extended period of time at elevated
temperatures. The excellent low cycle
fatigue strength of Alloy 390™
increases the durability of the sockets
which reduces the cost to perform this
non-value added testing.”
The
new Brush Wellman alloy is well suited
for any application where power management
and or harsh operating environments
are of concern. The new alloy is gaining
increasing interest from manufacturers
of handheld communication devices for
its promise of increasing battery life
and reducing charging times due to its
enhanced electrical conductivity.
Other
potential applications for Alloy 390™
are automotive terminals, switches and
relays; power connectors; SIM card contacts;
and appliance switches, relays, sensors,
and controls.
For
further information please contact Don
Moracz at 1-800-375-4205.
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